Well, it's the same in many Asian countries I would guess. I know for a fact that Thailand restricts land ownership by foreigners. In Thailand, the only way to

Well, it's the same in many Asian countries I would guess. I know for a fact that Thailand restricts land ownership by foreigners. In Thailand, the only way to own land as foreigner requires working many years for a Thai company, then obtain Thai citizenship and finally apply for Thai nationality. I believe either in citizenship or nationality stage it's possible for a foreigner to own land, but it's limited to a maximum of 1 rai (1.600 m2). Foreigners can own condominiums in Thailand, but 51% of the condo complex has to be owned by Thai people and foreigners don't have any ownership of the land the complex is build on. (Well, I believe there's one other way using a company, but for most companies setup in Thailand one has to give away 51% of shares to Thai people with few exceptions. An example of one such exception is if a foreigner owns an international import/export company, I believe in such a case it's allowed for the company shared to be 100% owned by the foreigner). Even though I am a foreigner living in Thailand and I have to admit these laws are somewhat annoying, I also feel it's good to protect the Thai people from rich foreigners buying land and increasing prices. I feel it'd be better if more countries would be more protectionist for their own citizens in this regard. I believe if it's more difficult for foreigners to own property in any country, it would reduce speculation on real-estate markets, thus reducing prices and rents.